Electric switch for street-railways.



'No. 806,568. PATENTED DE0.5,1905.'

J. A. POSEY.

ELECTRIC swrron FOR STREET RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21', 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 806,568. PATENTED DEG.5,1905.

J. A. POSEY.

ELECTRIC SWITCH FOR STREET RAH-WAYS.

APPLIQATION FILED JAN. 21.1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES:

PATENT OFFICE.

,JAMES POSEY, OF MIDLOT-HIAN, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE' ASSIGNMENTS, TO POSEY AUTOMATIC SWITCHING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

E L EQT RlC SWITCH FOR" ST REET-R AlLWAY S.

Specification of Letters Patent;

, Patented. Dec. 5, 1905.

Application filed January 21, 1905. Serial No. 242,132. a

To otZZ whom may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. POSEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Midlothian, Texas, have invented an Electric Switch for Street-Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electrically -oon-v trolled switches for street-railways; and the are shown in Fig. 1.

Object is to provide a method of operating the switches of the track from the car, so that a motorman will not have to stop a car for the;

purpose of turning a switch Other objects and advantages will be fully explained in the following description, and the particularly pointed invention will be more out 1n the claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying draw-1 ings, which form a part of this application ing the switch-operating mechanism in dotted outline.

which is used to throw the switch.

Similar characters of reference-are used to indicate the same parts throughout the several views. 1

The drawings show rails or tracks land 2.

- Metallic contacts 3 and 4 are suitably mounted inside of the rails and preferably adjacent to one of the track-rails. A depressiblelever 5 is mounted on one of the rails by meansof a suitable casing 6. the lever being fulcrumed on A connecting-rod 7 engages. the

lever 5. The rod 7 is provided with an elastic joint 8.

the rail.

This joint is formed by attaching a cylindrical casing 9 to one section of the rod 7, forming a head 10 on the other sec- -tion, and placing a spiral spring 12 on the latter section between the head 10 and the bottom of the casing 10. The rod'7 is pivotally connected to the shifting bar 11, which 1 carries the reversing-hook 13. The bar 11 is held against displacement by" the straps14.

.The bar 11 is held'in its normal position- Fig. 4 is aplan view of the switch-. operating mechanism. a Fig. 5 is a detail view, being a side elevation of the depressible lever by the spiral spring 15. The bar 11 will be moved longitudinally whenever a wheel passes over the lever 5. As soon as the wheel releases or passes off of the lever 5 the spiral spring 15 draws the bar 11 back to its normal position. The hook 13 moves with the bar 11 and is subject to a vibratory movement caused by the electrical appliances. A magnet consisting of parts 16 and 17 is mounted on the yoke 18. The part 16 is electrically connected to the contact 4 by wire 19, and the part 17 is electrically connected to the contact 3 by means of the Wire 20. Anarmature 21 is yieldinglymounted on the stud 22 'by means of a spring 23, the stud 22 beingintegral with the frame 24. The armature 21 and the hook 13 are connected together by the rod 25.- Consequently whenever the armature .is moved by p the magnets the hook 13 is also moved. The contact-making devices are carried by the cars and will be described below. Themagnets and the shifting bar 11 and connecting mechanism are mounted on a plate or-plat-.

form 26, which. is a part of the casing for mountingsaid mechanism underground. Levers 27 and 28 are fulcr'umed ion the plate 26 and pivotally connected to the switch-yoke 29,

straps 30. The yoke 29 is pivotally connected to the switch-tongue 31 by means of a pivot-stud 32, the switch-tongue 31 being pivotally connected to rail 2 by pivot-bolt 33.

'which has a transverse'movement under the The switch-tongue serves to direct a caralong I the main tracks 1 and 2 or to the side tracks 34 and 35, as may be determinedby the .motorrnan. The tongue 31 vibrates between the side-track rail Y35 and guard-rail 36. The

hook 13 actuates the lovers 27 and 28 by means of pins 37'and 38. Without any electricityto move armature 21 a depression of the lever 5 in the position shown in Fig. 4 would cause the lever 28 to throw the switchtongue 31 to the guard-rail and a car would carried by the rocker-shafts 46and 47, which are mounted in hangers 48 and 49. Rockerarms and 51 are pivotally connected to rods 41 and 42 and rigidly mounted on the shafts 47 and 46, and the springs 45 and 44 are rigidly mounted on the same shafts. Consequently a movement of the rods 41 and 42 will operate the springs 45 and 44 to raise or lower the same. The springs 44 and 45 have insulated joints 52. The springs 44 and 45 may be electrified by electricity from the car just as the lights in the car are supplied by mechanism carried by the car, or a storage battery 53 may be attached to the car and electricity furnished by the battery. A wire 54, leading from one pole of the battery 53, is connected to the spring 44 below the insulated joint 52. A wire is connected to wire 54 and with the spring 45, which is directly in-line with the spring 44. In the same manner a wire 56, leading from the other pole of the battery 53, is connected with the other pair of springs 44 and 45, which are to contact with the contact 3, the outside pair of springs 44 and 45 contacting with the contact 4. With the above-described arrangement the outside pair of springs 44 and 45 may be connected with the positive pole of battery 53, and the inside pair of springs 44 and 45 may be connected to the negative pole of battery 53. Normally the springs 44 and 45 are carried some distance from the ground; butall the springs can be lowered by either lever 39 or 40, which may be placed at a convenient location for the motorman.

In operation suppose the switch-tongue is in the position shown in Fig. 3. A motorman who wishes to go on track 34 and 35 has nothing whatever to do with the switching mechanism. The car-wheel will depress lever 5 and throw the tongue 31 against the guardrail 36. The operating mechanism is in the same position in both Figs 3 and 4. When the lever 5 is depressed,'the hook 13 will actuate the pin 38, and thus shift the switchbar 29, which carries the tongue with it. If the motorman wishes to continue on the main track 1 and 2, he will have to lower the springs 44 and 45 to make contact with the contacts 3 and 4. This will energize the magnets 16 and 17, and the armature 21 will engage the magnets and draw the hook 13 away from pin 38, so that this hook will not move the tongue 31. The switching to the branch road is accomplished automatically; but to go along the main track the motorman must press on his lever to keep from being side-tracked to the branch lines. If the tongue is in the position of the dotted line against the guard-rail 36 and the motorman wants to go along the main track, he must move his lever and make contacts to throw the hook 13 against pin 37, so that when the wheel depresses the lever 5 the hook will engage pin 37 and throw-the switch-tongue to the position shown in Fig. 3. It will be understood that in the last supsos,5es

posed case the levers 27 and 28 would be occupying different positions, and the pin 37 would be nearer to the catch of hook 13, If the switch-tongue was lying against the guardrail 36 and the motorman wished to go on the side track, he would not have to do anything with the switching mechanism. The lever 5 would be depressed; but no effect would be produced or no change would take place, because the pin 37 would be nearest the catch of hook 13, but would not be engaged by the hook, because the armature would not have drawn the hook toward the pin 37, and the hook would miss the pin 37. The pin 38 would be at its limit toward the lever 5, and the hook would merely go back against the pin 38 without moving this pin.

The necessity for two sets of springs 44 and 45 on each car is to prevent the moving of the switch -'tongue by the rear wheels after the front wheels have passed over the lever and before the car passes over the switchtongue.

The illustrations show only one branch line. It is apparent that a branch line may be op erated on either side of the main line.

Many changes may be made without departing from my invention.

It will be noted that under some conditions the switching is done automatically and that the motorman can always control the switching without stopping the car.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An electric switch for railways comprising a hook pivoted and having a vibratory and a longitudinal movement, a depressible lever operable by the wheels of a passing car, a switch-bar having a pivotal connection with the switch-tongue of the railway-track, and bell-crank levers provided with suitable fulcrums and pivotally connected to the ends of said switch-bar and carrying pins in the short arms thereof capable of being engaged by said hook.

2. An electric switch for railways comprising a pivoted hook having vibratory and longitudinal movement, a depressible lever operable by the wheels of a passing car, a switchbar having pivotal connection with the switchtongue of the railway-track, bell-crank levers provided with suitable fulcrums and pivotally connected to said switch-bar and carrying pins capable of being engaged by said hook, and electrical devices whereby a motorman on a passing car may control the movement of said hook.

3. An electric switch for railways comprising an actuating-bar parallel with the railwaytracks, mechanical means for effecting longitudinal motion of said bar, a vibratory hook carried by said bar, a lever for placing the switch-tongue for the main line, a lever for placing the switch-tongue for a branch line,

and electric controlling means to cause said hook to engage either oneofsaid levers.

4:. An electric switch for street-railways comprising a depressible lever, a hook capable of vibratory and longitudinal movement connected to said lever, levers operatively connected to the switch-tongue of the railwaytrack, electrical devices connected to said hook and provided with contacts adjacent to the railway-tracks, and contact-making devices carried by the car, said hook being adapted to engage either one of said levers. I

5. An electric switch for railways comprising a depressible lever, ,a hook capable of vibratory and longitudinal movement connected to'said lever, bell-crank levers capable of independent operation pivotally connected to the switch-tongueof the railway and carrying pins adapted to be engaged by said hook, electrical devices connected to said hook and provided with contacts adjacent to the railway-tracks, and means for electrifying said contacts and electrical devices.

6. An electric switch for railways comprising a lever for setting the railwayswitch tongue for a branch line, a lever for setting said tongue for the main line, a hook capable of longitudinal movement and vibratory move ment adapted to engage either one of said levers, electric controlling means for setting said hook to engage either one of said levers,

able armature connected to said book, a magnet for operating said armature, contacts electrically connected to said magnet, and means carried by a car for supplying electricity to -said contacts.

8. An electric switch for railways comprising switch-tongue-operatingdevices,electrical devices operatively connected to said switchtongue operating devices, contacts adjacent to the railway-tracks and connected to said electrical devices, rods mounted on the car and capable of longitudinal motion, levers for operating said rods, springs pivotally connected to said rods and adapted to engage said contacts, and means for supplying electricity to said springs. l

In testimony whereof I set my hand, in the presence of two witnesses, this 11th day of J anuary, 1905.

JAMES A. oem.

Witnesses:

A. L. J AGKSON, A. O. FRENCH. 

